Secrets
by love2run
Summary: Rorke had betrayed his team long ago, but his wife had just found out.


**Hey everyone! This is my first story - I'm pretty young (15) and don't know much about this whole writing thing, so bear with me here :) Looking back over this one-shot story I am noticing tons of flaws that don't go along with the Ghosts storyline, as well as some things that just don't make sense in the story. My excuse... taking "creative liberties" here and writing what comes to mind!**

**I'd appreciate reviews! Thank you!**

**Secrets**

The still dusky air in the dark factory warehouse settled around them. A lone lantern hanging on the ceiling cast an eerie glow on the couple below.

"Catherine." A man's rough voice broke the silence. "Why have you come here?"

The woman stood a few feet away from him. She sighed.

"Why have you come here? What are you doing on a battlefield like this?" He stretched out his arms and looked around. The abandoned military warehouse was cold and dark, and the very presence of evil could be sensed.

The woman looked up, her beautiful eyes meeting his. He looked away and turned to the side. "Look me in the eyes, Gabriel," her voice was cold, yet soft and seemingly sad.

He turned to her. His eyes were down.

"Look at me, Gabe," she repeated. One step closer toward him. Two.

Her slender body brushed against his hardened, war-torn one. She put her hands on his strong, squared shoulders. She looked up at him, examining the man she had once fallen in love with. The long, deep scar traced his cheek and met his squared chin. His nose seemed sharp and harsh in the dusty light. His face seemed older… harder… darker.

Slowly he lifted his eyes and looked at her. Those dark blue eyes, which so many years ago were dancing with love and youth, were now full of bitterness and hatred.

"Gabriel, what's happened to you?" Her eyes searched for some sign of regret or repentance in those cold eyes. She found none.

She took a deep breath. "What are the secrets you've been keeping from me? What is it that I don't know?"

A breeze came from somewhere and blew her auburn hair across her face. She sensed an approaching storm, in more ways than one.

"All these years when you've been overseas – deployed – I'd assumed you were fighting for your country, not someone else's."

The words seemed to have struck something in the man in front of her. His eyes seemed to grow darker, and his mouth tightened into a cold line.

"No wonder you've always avoided the subject of war when you're around here." She narrowed her gaze. "You've never talked about what you've been through or the hero you've been. _Because you're not proud of it._ You're not serving your country. You're serving someone else's!"

A bolt of lightning illuminated their faces. She caught a glare from him.

"And here you stand before me…" She paused and looked away for a moment, then looked back and shook her head. "For years, you've been fighting against your country. For years, you've been destroying the place of your birth. And I didn't even know…" Her mind seemed to wander for a minute. Then she faced him firmly. "Gabriel, I didn't sign up to have a traitor as a husband. When I said 'I do' 18 years ago, I didn't say 'I do' to a betrayer. I didn't say 'I do' to marrying who you are today." Angry tears formed in her eyes and threatened to spill over. "Gabriel Rorke, you were a Captain of the most elite special forces team in the world. Now you're a Commander in the Federation. What have you become? What are you going to become?" Tears freely fell from her cheeks. "You've never told the truth, Gabriel. You've kept so many secrets from me… so many secrets."

The following silence was the stillness before the storm.

Then a crash of thunder sounded. Rorke spoke.

"When they captured me from the team - took me away and tortured me - I hated the Ghosts for leaving their Captain behind like that. I decided I wasn't one of them anymore. I became part of the Federation. Best decision I ever made." He sneered.

Then his voice rose. "Catherine, I'm not a Ghost any more. I'm better than one. _I am a Ghost killer_!"

Thunder rolled and echoed off of the canyon walls outside. Rorke stepped back and crossed his arms. The fury trapped inside him was working its way out. "Catherine, do you know what I told Elias Walker before he died?"

_Died!_ She took a step back. Her eyes were full of horror. _Died! He killed Elias, his former comrade; he killed him! My own husband… has killed his own men._

Rorke was raging now. "I told him I'm the man that hunts the Ghosts! I'm the one that sends them back to the other side!" He moved towards her. "I told him that he and his sons were nothing! They were dead! They weren't Ghosts." His voice lowered. "And before I put a bullet in his head, I told him his name would die with him. It would be the last of the Ghosts! No more!" He sliced his arm through the air in a sign of deathly hatred. "I would get my revenge!"

The silence that followed seemed louder than the man's shattering roar.

Tears streamed down Catherine's cheeks. She shook her head, and slowly turned her back to the villain.

He crept up behind her. She closed her eyes. His whisper sounded more evil than she could imagine. "And you know what? I did. I did get my revenge." His breath was hot in her ear. "Elias is gone. Gone!" He chuckled, making her feel sick to her stomach. "And his sons? Hesh is on his way out." Then his tone changed. "But Logan – he's got fire in him. Whether he knows it or not, he's well on his way to becoming part of the Federation. The Ghosts will be gone! And soon, this country -," He glanced around at the still air around them, then fixed his eyes upon a tattered American flag that hung from a small pole high on the ceiling of the warehouse - "…soon this country will be gone!" He flung himself up and reached madly for the flag. He pulled it down. In front of her eyes, right there, he tore it in half.

There was silence.

Catherine was shaken. Her husband had become what she had never wanted.

And now she had to make the toughest decision she could imagine. One that would change her life and thousands of others.

Would she let her love for who Rorke had been rule, and would she let him live? Or would she allow the loyalty to her country and the hate for Rorke's sins take over?

His secrets had been revealed. Now it was time for her to do something about it… before he did.

**What a cliffhanger, eh? :/ Pretty horrible.**

**Thanks for taking the time to read this! Reviews, please? :) **


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